English version

English version

Welcome to the DARC International Affairs Committee

Here you will find most of the relevant information on Amateur Radio in Germany. We plan to expand this over the next few months, in order to make your visit more pleasurable.

Your comments, hints and questions are very welcome. Please contact the committee if anything is missing!

73, Thomas DF2OO

Secretary International Affairs

Visitors to DL

License Information

On this page you can find the most relevant information on Amateur Radio related issues here in Germany. The page is built up as a FAQ-page:

- Germany is a CEPT Country!

- What if I have no CEPT license?

- What bands and what power may I use in DL?

- I want to stay in DL for more than 3 months ...

- More information on Amateur Radio in DL needed?

- How do I find a local Amateur Radio Club?

- I need the address of a certain German Radio Amateur!

- I need more information on the DARC!

- How can I subscribe to the printed copy of the »CQ-DL«?

- Visitor's stations in DL If you cannot find some certain information - send a message to the committee members using the form-mailer. They will answer you as soon as possible.

Germany is a CEPT country!If you have a CEPT license (covered by T/R 61-01) or a CEPT Novice license (covered by ECC-Rec. (05)06), you do not require any guest license for your short stay (up to three months) here in Germany. Just make sure that you bring your Amateur Radio license with you. For a list of countries accepting the recommendation, see the ERO web site.

What if I have no CEPT license?Foreign Radio Amateurs without a CEPT license or a CEPT Novice license can apply for a guest license at the telecommunications authority Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) in Mülheim a. d. Ruhr. The license will be issued for 3 months and costs (currently) 70 €uros. (BNetzA also issues Guest-licenses for 7 days - free of charge - but only in special cases). Please read and follow all the instructions carefully - it is reported that some applications have been returned due to missing information.

What bands and what power may I use in DL?Full CEPT Licenses (and equivalent, Non-CEPT Licenses), CEPT License holders (even the former CEPT classes 1 and 2), as well as the equivalent guest license holders, may operate on the same terms and conditions as the German national class A .

CEPT Novice license (and equivalent, Non-CEPT Novice licenses) CEPT Novice License holders - as long as their country has implemented the ECC-Rec.(05)06 - may operate on the same terms and conditions as the German national class E without any further permit. Make sure that you have the specific CEPT Novice level remark in your license (or bring a copy of the FCC's CEPT Public Notice if your are from the U.S.). Equivalent German Guest license holders may also operate on the same terms and conditions as the German national class E-license.

More information on the terms and conditions of the two German license classes, as well as important addresses, repeater and beacon lists and much more can be found on the information sheet Amateur Radio in DL. The current rules and regulations in English can be found in the menu on the left.

I want to stay in DL for more than 3 months ...If you will be moving to or staying in DL for more than 3 months ... (non-German citizens only!), then this is normally not a problem. You can apply for a permanent German Amateur Radio License with call sign. If you have a CEPT License, submit a copy of your HAREC certificate, your passport and your working and/or residence permit (EU-citizens: submit a copy of the registration form from the local Einwohnermeldeamt) to the BNetzA office in Dortmund. If you wish, you can state the call sign that you wish to have (if it's available!). List a few possible calls. If you have no CEPT license, please submit a copy of your passport, your working and residency permits, as well as a copy of your own Amateur Radio license (if possible submit an English or French translation of it, but for U.S. licenses a translation is not necessary) to the BNetzA office in Dortmund. In either case: do not hesitate to contact the office if you have further questions. They will give you the needed information: Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), Alter Hellweg 56, 44379 Dortmund, Germany. Phone: +49-(0)208-4507-265, Fax: +49-(0) 231 99 55 - 260, E-Mail: Dort10-Postfach@BNetzA.de

More information on Amateur Radio in DL needed?The information published on this web page is far from complete. Nor is that the intention. Therefore it may be that specific information that may be very important for you is missing. Therefore do not hesitate and ask your questions to the commitee members by using the form mailer. The committee members will help and answer as best as they can.

Current IARU R1 HF BandplanHow do I find a local Amateur Radio Club?If you are planning to go to Germany and you are looking for a local Amateur Radio club in your neighborhood, please have a first look at this web site. Here you can click on the certain district you want to visit - and you'll get an overview of all local Radio Clubs of that district. If you have more questions, please feel free to send a message to the committee-members by using the form-mailer. Thank you!

I need the address of a certain German Radio Amateur! No problem. If you know his call sign, you can visit the callsign search engine of the BNetzA. There you can type in the call sign. But note that the engine only will give you the address of the current call sign holder - and not the older ones (and only if the holder has given permission to publish the address - in Germany you can remove the publishing of personal data due to the data protection law!). If you can not find the address you are looking for there, try to Google for it or send a message to the committee using the form mailer. The committee members will try their best to help you.

I need more information on the DARC!No problem. Please visit the homepage of DARC. If you need some special information, or the address of a contact person within the DARC, you may take a look at the different DARC committee web pages. Here again: If you can not find the information you are looking for there, feel free to ask the committee members by using the form-mailer. They will try to help you as best as they can!

How can I subscribe to the printed copy of the »CQ-DL«?1) If you want to get all copies for a year or more, and live outside Germany, you can sign up for a special abroad membership. It costs 96 €uros per year and you will get 12 printed copies and have access to the web services of DARC. Unfortunately you can not use the German QSL service. For more information, please send an e-mail to: dxabo@darcverlag.de or send a telefax to: +49-(0)561-949-88552) We have now added a menu with membership information on the left

Visitor's stations in DL There are several visitor's stations for Radio Amateurs in Germany. Some of them even allow you to be QRV as a Guest operator. But anyway, call or write to the stations managers in advance.

Further tips:

- Note that the bands in Germany are 144-146 MHz and 430-440 MHz.- Make sure that your HT can transmit from 430-440 MHz before leaving, or else modify it first, for example from http://www.mods.dk/index.php- Germany officially uses a 12.5 kHz channelization, so some repeaters may use these in lieu of 25 kHz channel spacing (but not many).- 70 cm has a -7.6 MHz split in Germany, with the repeater outputs starting at 439.425 MHz and moving down.- Many repeaters in Germany still require a 1750 Hz tone burst. Look at your HT's manual to see how to enable the 1750 Hz tone burst, since modern HT's can generate this tone.- Some repeaters require CTCSS, use the repeater directory to find out the correct tone frequency.- The APRS frequency is 144.800 MHz.

Clubs

There are 1,050 local chapters of the DARC that are spread throughout Germany, and you may be able to find a local club meeting where you will be visiting.

Locate the club(s) by looking through the list at https://www.darc.de/der-club/allgemeines/#c35450to find one near where you will be. Then call-up their web page to see when they are meeting, or else send an e-mail to the provided contact address. Let us know if you need any assistance, due to language issues or geographic questions.

Specific Information for U.S. Visitors

Specific Information for U.S. Visitors

License Classes

It is important to know your license class reciprocal privileges under the CEPT T/R 61-01 recommendation, especially if you are a General or Technician class licensee. There is no requirement to submit any paperwork or pay a fee for up to three months as a visitor to Germany. Only if you hold a residence permit will you be able to receive a German call sign.

Extra & Advanced: Full operating privileges (license class "A" in Germany)General: CEPT Novice privileges (license class "E" in Germany)Technician:No operating privileges under the CEPT T/R 61-01 or CEPT ECC/REC (05)06 recommendations in Germany (note that some other countries have a limited beginner license that may accept the Technician as equivalent)

Identification

Extra & Advanced: DL/callGeneral: DO/call

What to Bring Along

1) Your original US license; 2) Proof of US citizenship (your Passport) 3) A copy of the FCC's CEPT Public Notice4) HT's, etc. can be brought along without any customs declaration necessary, as long as you intend to take them home with you

Misc.

- Details on frequencies, modes, etc. can be found under Annex A in the document "AFuV March 2008 kurz_englisch.pdf" found under the Rules & Regulations menu on the left.- Other information relevant to visitors from the U.S. can be found in this article from Mitch Wolfson, DJØQN, in the June, 2009 issue of CQ Magazine- The U.S. amateur radio exams are given several times per year in Germany. These are given only in English and the license can be used to apply for a German license at the equivalent level (see above) for permanent residents. If you are a permanent resident, would like to become a radio amateur and do not speak German, this would be a good method to use. For a list of testing sites and dates, see: http://www.us-lizenz.de/ or http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/search.

Moving to Germany?

This procedure is only necessary if you become a permanent resident of Germany and/or are staying here longer than the three month period covered by the CEPT T/R 61-01 recommendation.

If you are a civilian, use the procedure provided on the main visitor to DL page. If you are covered under the SOFA agreement, there is a different procedure. Contact the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), Alter Hellweg 56, 44379 Dortmund, Germany. Phone: +49-(0)208-4507-260, E-Mail: Dort10-Postfach(at)BNetzA.de for details.

Rules & Regulations in English

Rules & Regulations in English

AFuG March 2008 kurz englisch.pdfThese are the main German amateur radio regulations

History of DARC

History of DARC

The History of DARC

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club e.V. (DARC) was founded on September 8th, 1950 in Kiel. But this was not the start of Amateur Radio in Germany. It was just the start after World War II and the time before from the beginning in the 1920s.

The pre-war time under the Nazi-regime will not be described here by the author. There are several more or less historical stories and books available on it. The time of Amateur Radio under a communist system in Eastern Germany is also not mentioned here.

The road to the foundation of DARC was made easier by several hams from the allied occupation forces. The same counts for the first official DL licenses which have been granted a year earlier in 1949. It should not be forgotten that 1949 was also the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany. A main task was the Amateur Radio Act which was a first Act of such a kind in Europe.

The first ham magazine was the “QRV”. In 1951 it got the new name “DL-QTC”. From the beginning it was only produced by members for members and never sold at kiosks. A further interesting matter which should be mentioned is that the DARC constitution clearly states that qsl service is only granted to members. This was and is based on a postal law.

In 1956 the DLD and the WAE awards were created and reached world wide acceptance within the following years. DARC members joined or initiated the first AR RTTY traffic in 1959, the first Moon-Bounce QSOs in 1960 and the first contacts with the AR satellite Oscar 1 in 1961. Also in 1959 a first IARU Region 1 conference was hosted by DARC in Bonn. A year later a the predecessor of the HAM RADIO Exhibition started at Lake Constance.

In 1962 a natural disaster “storm flood in the North Sea” showed that engaged DARC members may be good communications servants in such a time. In 1965 Oscar III brought a larger access to hams via the 2 m band and became a good tool to bring Amateur Radio to the acceptance of a broader audience. QSL became a more and more working load for DARC. In 1966 the first bigger sorting machine was constructed in Wuppertal, Rhineland. It became an interesting subject to a lot of visitors from other societies.

In 1967 the first VHF-licenses – only – have been introduced by the German P&T authorities. The opinion to that was very divided not only in Germany. 1969 DARC started to plan building the Headquarters in Baunatal near Kassel. The construction started in May 1971. In 1972 the DL-QTC got a new form and became “CQ-DL”.

1975 the Lake Constance Meeting was renamed to “Ham Radio” and was organized in Friedrichshafen, Bodensee. The WARC 1979 set new signs also for DARC. It was well acknowledged by DARC that some few members did a great international job by lobbying in Geneva. As a result out of this knowledge the DARC executive committee decided to give the international work together with the sister societies and the IARU more attention.

A year later the author was asked to build up a special “International Liaison Committee” with concrete liaisons world wide. The IARU Region 1 conference 1981 in Brighton became a good training ground and platform for future connections. In 1982 the first “Informal International Meeting” at the Ham Radio Exhibition was initiated by this committee. 1985 became the year of the Space Mission D 1. It was a high light for those being engaged in it.

After the German Democratic Republic (Eastern Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 also the hams from there – former organized in RSV – became members of DARC. In 1993 the Space Shuttle Mission D 2 started again with the remarkable engagement of German Hams. In 1997 the ARDF World Championship was organized by DARC in St. Englmar, Bavaria.

The year 2000 was not only the 50th anniversary of DARC but also the 25th of the Ham Radio, Friedrichshafen.

Written by Hans Berg, DJ6TJ, September 2002

Moving to DL

If you will be moving to or staying in DL for more than 3 months ... (non-German citizens only!), then this is normally not a problem. You can apply for a permanent German Amateur Radio License with call sign. If you have a CEPT License, submit a copy of your HAREC certificate, your passport and your working and/or residence permit (EU-citizens: submit a copy of the registration form from the local Einwohnermeldeamt) to the BNetzA office in Dortmund. If you wish, you can state the call sign that you wish to have (if it's available!). List a few possible calls. If you have no CEPT license, please submit a copy of your passport, your working and residency permits, as well as a copy of your own Amateur Radio license (if possible submit an English or French translation of it, but for U.S. licenses a translation is not necessary) to the BNetzA office in Dortmund. In either case: do not hesitate to contact the office if you have further questions. They will give you the needed information:

Become a member

Interested in becoming a member of DARC?

DARC offers a special membership for HAMs who live outside of Germany.

The price of the membership is for one year.

The membership class 01b does include the monthly delivery of the club magazine CQ DL. CQ DL is published in the German language. This membership does not include: liability insurance and QSL-Service. 99 Euros

The membership class 02e is for members, who constantly live outside of Germany. This class includes the membership-service on our website, including the monthly digital version of the CQ DL. This membership does not include: liability insurance, QSL-Service and the monthly postal delivery of the CQ DL. 49.20 Euros